Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft parachuted on December 22, 2019 at the end of the Orbital Flight Test-1 mission. Credit: NASA / Aubrey Geminiani
Members of NASA’s Independent Safety Advisory Group on Thursday warned the space agency not to rush into a test flight by Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft crew and expressed concern about the final certification of capsule parachutes and Boeing personnel in the program.
Security advisers also said there were “obvious safety concerns” about SpaceX’s plan to launch the giant Starship rocket from 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, the same facility used for crew missions to the International Space Station.
Boeing plans to begin a repeat test flight of its Starliner crew capsule next week. The mission, called Orbital Flight Test-2, or OFT-2, will not carry astronauts. But if all goes well, the OFT-2 mission will pave the way for Starliner’s next launch to transport crew to the space station for a final demonstration mission – called the Crew Flight Test, or CFT – before NASA and Boeing announce the new commercial vehicle ready. for work.
Developed in a public-private partnership, the Starliner spacecraft will give NASA a second man-made capsule capable of transporting astronauts to and from the space station, along with SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which launched with a crew for the first time in May 2020. .
As SpaceX already provides regular services to transport the crew to the space station, NASA staff had time to solve technical problems with the Starliner spacecraft. However, NASA wants to have two crew providers to avoid relying on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to fly astronauts in the event that SpaceX encounters significant delays.
“The panel is pleased that all indications are that there is no need to rush to the CFT,” said David West, a member of the Aerospace Security Advisory Panel, at a public meeting on Thursday. “The view that has been consistently expressed to us (by NASA) is that the program will move to the CFT when and only when they are ready. Of course, the best way to CFT would be a successful OFT-2.
NASA has signed a series of contracts with Boeing worth more than $ 5 billion since 2010 to develop Starliner, test flights and operations. The contracts include arrangements for six rotation flights of the crew to the space station – each with a four-member crew – after the completion of the OFT-2 mission and a shorter flight test of the crew with astronauts on board.
However, the Starliner program is facing years of delay. Software problems prevented the spacecraft from mooring in space during the OFT-1 mission in 2019, forcing Boeing to organize a second unmanned test flight at its own expense. The OFT-2 mission was on the launch pad last August, ready to take off on top of the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket, when engineers noticed that 13 oxidant isolation valves in the propulsion system of the Starliner spacecraft were stuck in a closed position.
After nine months of testing, investigations and replacement of a new propulsion module, Boeing transferred the Starliner spacecraft back to the ULA rocket hangar on May 4 for launch on the Atlas 5 rocket, ready for a new launch. Read our previous history of valve repair.
West said on Thursday that NASA executives had signed the oxidizer valve repair for the OFT-2 mission, but noted that “there is some question as to whether a redesign of the valve will be required for future flights after OFT-2.” He also said that managers had approved a “flight rationale” for problems with a high pressure lock valve on the Starliner control module drive system, a separate issue from the oxidizer valves in the service module.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was erected at the ULA’s Vertical Integration Center on May 4 in preparation for the OFT-2 mission. The Starliner crew module is at the top and the service module is at the bottom. Credit: NASA / Frank Misho
“There are also concerns that Boeing’s parachute certification is lagging behind,” West said.
He also noted “significant programmatic concerns” about the limited number of human-rated Atlas 5 missiles remaining in ULA inventory. The ULA has 24 more Atlas 5 missiles to fly before withdrawing the missile in favor of the cheaper, more powerful Vulcan Centaur missile.
Eight of those 24 rockets have already been deployed for the Starliner program, enough to meet Boeing’s contractual requirement with NASA, which includes two more test fields and six operational missions to rotate the crew to the space station.
ULA’s new Vulcan rocket has not yet flown.
“Another factor is that the Vulcan launch vehicle, designed to replace the Atlas 5 for Starliner launches, needs to be certified for human spaceflight, and the process of obtaining that certification could take years,” West said.
West, a longtime safety safety manager and exam director on the Board of Certified Safety Specialists, said common concerns about NASA’s workforce and contractors in the agency’s human spaceflight program were “particularly important in the Boeing case.”
“The panel noted that Boeing’s staff levels appear particularly low,” West said. “The panel will monitor the situation in the near future to see what impact, if any, this could have on the existence or mitigation of safety risks.
“While we do not want to see an unnecessary rush to launch the CFT, Boeing must ensure that all available resources are used to meet a reasonable schedule and avoid unnecessary delays,” said West.
“We certainly stand behind the idea of not starting until (it) is ready, until all the safety is taken care of,” said Marc Sirandello, another member of the safety panel. “At the same time, if the delays are caused by a lack of resources applied to the program, it has a significant impact or could have significant effects on NASA’s schedule for its return to the moon and many other things that are happening to get rid of these delays. “
NASA and Boeing officials declined to set a target schedule for the crew’s flight test, saying only that the preparation of the capsule for the astronaut’s first mission was on track to get the vehicle ready for launch by the end of this year. The schedule for the flight test of the crew will largely depend on the outcome of the OFT-2 mission.
An astronaut from the International Space Station took this photo on March 30 from the Kennedy Space Center, showing site 39B in the lower right corner, site 39A just above it and the vehicle assembly building. North is below in this photo. Credit: NASA
SpaceX, NASA’s other commercial crew contractor, has launched five NASA crew launches, plus two all-private astronaut missions using the company’s Dragon spacecraft fleet.
Officials said last year that SpaceX would stop producing new Dragon capsules after building four man-made vehicles. The fourth and newest member of the fleet launched for the first time last month. Each Dragon spacecraft is designed for at least five flights, and SpaceX and NASA could certify the capsule for additional missions.
“We are definitely concerned that the requirements for transporting astronauts to and from the ISS for the rest of its life, whatever it may be, can be met without additional dragons,” West said. “It would be advisable to conduct parametric studies to inform and support relevant decisions on whether more Dragon capsules are needed.
“However, Dragon’s launch speed continues and measures are being taken to maintain the launch speed,” West said. “Some of these measures may include postponing preventive maintenance and reusing Dragon several times. “The panel will monitor closely to see if these measures can be implemented without increasing risk.
“It should be noted, among other things, that there is a huge amount of data coming from all these SpaceX launches,” West said. “Although the data may be useful to NASA, we believe that care must be taken not to be overwhelmed by too much data.
In February, NASA commissioned three more space rotation missions from SpaceX, adding to the six flights under the crew’s original commercial contract. Once Starliner becomes operational, NASA wants to alternate crew rotations every six months between Boeing and SpaceX, giving each vendor one NASA astronaut flight a year.
West added that SpaceX plans to launch a huge next-generation Starship rocket, currently under development in South Texas, from the Kennedy Space Center, could pose a risk to the Falcon 9 and Dragon launch site at 39A.
“One possible option identified for launching Starship is from a planned new facility within the physical boundaries around 39A in the Kennedy Space Center, where the Dragons are launched,” West said. “There are obvious safety concerns about the launch of the large and as yet unproven Starship in such close proximity, reportedly just 300 yards or more from another site, not to mention the road so vital to the crew’s commercial program.”
The Pad 39A is also the only launch vehicle currently capable of launching SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket needed to launch some of NASA’s and US heavier warships into orbit.
Starship and its giant booster degree Super Heavy combine to be nearly 400 feet (120 meters) high. The system is designed to be fully usable and SpaceX plans to land the Starship accelerator vertically and the upper stage back to the launch site.
SpaceX is completing work on Starship’s launch site in South Texas, but the Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing the environmental impact of SpaceX’s operations before issuing a commercial launch license for Starship’s first full orbital test flight.
NASA awarded SpaceX a $ 2.9 billion contract last year to develop a version of …
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